Not Myself
By Princess Alexandria
Christy opened the bathroom door and was startled by Mystique sitting on her couch. This time she knew the door had been locked. She glanced at it and shifted her clothes back on. After all the times Mystique had seen Christy naked, it no longer embarrassed Christy like it did that first time. "Locking it is like putting out a red flag near a bull isn't it. You just have to break in."
"Yes, well nothing says come in I want to chat like a locked door around midnight." Mystique smirked at her and winked. Christy just had to shake her head and sigh. Mystique was a law unto herself. "Besides you're all hot and wet. I didn't want to miss that."
Christy ignored the innuendo this time and moved to sit down. Their talk had been cut short earlier because Shortpack came back. At least Mystique understood when Christy told her she didn't want to boy to know about her situation. It wasn't that Christy didn't like him, but she knew less about him and how he would react. He might act like Scott had and demand she be honest with everyone.
"When you talked about castration with those guys in Seattle…" Mystique leaned back in her seat and put her arms along the back of the couch. "Was that from experience?"
Christy sighed softly. Here was the how bad were you questions. "I've castrated a man." Her voice was even, trying not to show her revulsion at what she'd done. She made Tribe justice on rape very harsh, and he was alive when she did it. Before waiting for the other questions that were sure to come. "I learned to use a gun from an ex soldier and found a talent for it." Christy moved to the side so she could pull her legs up onto the loveseat with her. "Without a food supply I had to kill to get supplies for our tribe. I learned fast how to aim for the head so the enemy didn't linger at deaths door. With my powers I knew pretty easily if I'd managed to kill someone or just wound them." She spent a half hour giving Mystique the basics of how she could use a gun, do ambushes, how she learned about torture, and some other less savory skills. She delivered her list of skills with little regret or emotion in her voice, because painful or not, these were the things her partner would need to know if they ever went into battle together. Mystique didn't get the stories behind what Christy knew though. She left out a lot, but anything she might need to do in this world. Amazingly, after she got going, Mystique didn't interrupt her to joke. Perhaps even she didn't see any humor in it.
"You'd make an excellent assassin." Mystique spoke softly when Christy finished talking. "I worked as one a few times. Shapeshifters are able to get close to anyone, and if you have the stomach for the job it pays well. You can even refuse jobs if you don't want to get involved in something."
Christy started to smile at the absurdity of it all. She imagined the young woman she used to be and how she'd respond to looking up career information on assassins as she tried to pick a major. What a sad comment on her life that someone could even suggest that job to her and have it make sense. "Thanks, but I'd rather be a teacher."
……………….
Wednesday during lunch break, Emma stepped onto the elevator on her way the medlab. Emma decided it was best to do this outside of the classroom, so she assembled all the books and assignments for the week from all of Annie's teachers to bring with her. If she'd waited another two hours she would have had to take them to the girls' dorm and this was more private.
Emma saw the young girl turn from the television to watch Emma walk into the room. She noticed the way Annie wished she were invisible. The thought was hardly shielded. Annie's pain medicine was giving her trouble focusing on such a new skill. Yet another reason to not wait until her student came back to class. "I took the liberty of seeing all your teachers and getting your assignments from them." Emma moved to the side of the bed and put the books down on the table near it. "You will of course be given extensions on deadlines."
"Thank you." Annie muttered it while staring at the books. It was hardly a proper thank you.
"I heard that the bandages will be staying on a few more days." Emma glanced at them meaningfully. "There are no shortage of students willing to come down here and help you do your work, but make sure that it is your work that is done." The potential for cheating was high with this setup but Emma would know if that happened. Annie looked a little insulted, but at least she was looking at Emma now. "If you find you need anything or are having trouble understanding the material, don't hesitate to ask your teachers if your friends aren't able to help."
"Okay." One word, yet it seemed to convey Annie's desire to have Emma leave quite well. Emma smirked at her and took a seat next to the bed. The girl needed to understand a few things before she came back to Emma's classroom. Emma could hear the hurt and often spiteful thoughts Annie couldn't block while on pain medicine. Henry was going to have to lower her dosages soon.
Emma waited until Annie looked at her before she spoke. "Undoubtedly the rumors of my love life have rekindled with Christy's visit." She watched the embarrassed flush on Annie's face. "And it will be a challenge to keep the classroom free of such talk so that I can teach." She stared into Annie's eyes. "I'm sure I can count on you to help me keep the disruption to a minimum." Having Annie restart her crusade to try and embarrass Emma in the classroom wasn't something Emma was willing to have occur. She was the teacher and she did demand some respect. Emma didn't wait for the nod or a yes. She just smiled a bit coldly. "Good. I'll see you in class tomorrow."
In all her years in teaching, Emma never encountered this particular problem. Annie, however, was a bit more mature than many students her age, and hopefully this would be the last they'd have to talk about this.
………………….
Annie was strong enough to walk out of the medlab. Sophie had come for her check up and was escorting Annie back to her room. Having to wait for Sophie to open doors made it painfully clear how much Annie was going to have to rely on other people. It took an effort to not show she was feeling sorry for herself, because even though this sucked she'd do it again if she had to.
Dr. McCoy went as far as the elevator with them and pushed the button. Students didn't have access to this part of campus without a teacher doing that. He continued to give them both advice until the doors actually closed in his face.
"We went shopping and got you some new clothes." Sophie smiled at her. "Jessi had your sizes. I hope you like them."
"You didn't have to."
"You couldn't put on some of your old stuff." Sophie glanced at the bandages on Annie's arm again. "So Ms. Frost drove us to the mall. It was going to be just Jessi, but we made a trip of it. Don't worry, I stopped my sisters from buying you white things." Ms. Frost again. Annie sighed. "You have a few shoes that don't need to be tied and pants that don't have a zipper." Sophie's eyes went down and her voice was a little less energetic. "I got a few summer tops that won't show my shoulder."
"How bad is it?" Annie moved a little closer to Sophie, but the elevator door picked that time to open. If Dr. McCoy had just been a few minutes later Sophie wouldn't have any scars. Annie hated that she wasn't allowed to finish this, but she could tell she'd already taxed her powers too much. The buzz she'd learned to identify it was barely in her blood anymore. She needed to build it up again, and she had no idea how to speed that up.
As they walked down the hall Sophie stayed close to Annie. School was already out for the day so there weren't a lot of students in the hall, but if any got anywhere near bumping Annie Sophie glared at them. Annie suspected her telepathic friend was the reason that no one did bump into Annie. A few had moved rather jerkily as they got out of the way. "It's about the size of a half dollar on the back of my shoulder. Not a bad place to hide it." Sophie's hand moved to take Annie's but then stopped. She probably remembered that pressure on the bandages hurt Annie. "Now we have another way to tell me apart from my sisters." The smile was a little forced. Annie felt like she'd failed her.
They stepped outside and the steps cleared. A few students stared at Annie a moment, the smiles were all that kept it from being scary. "Good job." Someone whispered just loud enough for Annie to hear it.
When they got past the crowd Annie leaned closer to Sophie. "What was that?"
"Everyone knows you saved my life. That you got hurt because you wouldn't give up on a fellow student." Sophie glanced over at her. "My sisters may have embellished it a bit, but you are a hero."
Annie thought of the pain she went through and her fear. "I did it for you. I can't say I'd do that for someone else." She'd like to believe she would, but when Sophie caught fire all Annie could think about was her.
Annie thought her admitting to less than hero like behavior would lessen Sophie's admiring eyes, but Sophie just gave her a small smile to go with it. "It's good to know I have friends like that."
…………………….
"Shift." Mystique's voice was demanding as they sparred in the garage at slow speed. This was training to change while also having to do something else, and Christy found it took longer to shift that way even though she just had to switch between two outfits. Mystique stepped back a little. "Okay, now I'm going to shift into forms you can do. For the most part its clothes, but I'll use your Chris and Terry form too, and you have to match me as fast as you can. Being able to shift quickly will make it so you can get away. If you can shift in a blink of an eye and do it repeatedly no one can follow who you are."
"I only have my main form, the super dyke version and Terry." Christy shook her head. "I can't fool anyone with three like that."
"You'll learn more. We just need to work on speed."
"Your doing great Christy." Shortpack said from his safe place on the bench. Christy sighed and put her arms up in a battle ready stance. She got to fight someone that looked like herself. Not her idea of a good time.
Mystique moved forward and Christy worked to block the punches. When Mystique shifted into Christy wearing her hunting outfit Christy got hit as she focused to try and follow. "Keep blocking. You have to do both." Mystique tried to knock Christy off her feet, but she was telegraphing her moves on purpose. It was obvious. They'd work up to real sparring while doing this, but Mystique didn't expect her to do it right away.
Hunter Christy faced herself and they traded a few hits before Mystique shifted again, while punching. Christy blocked and spun away. She stood and faced her opponent in a business suit that really didn't lend itself well to sparring, but she ignored how the skirt rode up high to expose her underwear as she kicked at Mystique. Never fight in a skirt, she thought to herself as she noticed how it restricted her movements.
Mystique grabbed her foot, surprising Christy, and shoved backwards. Christy lost her balance and fell. Her elbow slammed painfully into the mat and Christy rolled out of the way as Mystique jumped toward her. By the time she was on her feet again she was surprised to see yet another form. The fist hit her in the face as she was shifting into Terry. "Concentrate." Mystique scolded her.
Even with the fighting at half speed Christy took more hits than she had in a while. It felt like she'd lost fighting skills. "You shifted in a second and a half once." Shortpack announced while staring at the timer he had next to him. His job had been to monitor that. "You are getting faster."
"Still not in a blink of an eye." Mystique added her opinion. "But getting there." The now back to blue woman tossed a towel over her own shoulder. "But you need to do fast and still fight. I think our sparring needs to be like this for a while. No more straight sparring. You can do that with anyone. I'm going to focus on your powers."
It made sense. No one else could shift along with Christy.
…………………….
Shortpack paced along the dining room table as he waited for the women to come upstairs. Both of them were meeting with Liam and some other high up Friends of Humanity types at a party. It was supposed to be routine and Mystique told him it would be a piece of cake. As soon as she said that he knew something would go wrong. Something that would really test Christy's abilities, and he couldn't lie, they weren't that great. As far as a new shapeshifter she was doing amazing, but compared to Mystique she was so far behind.
When Mystique came up alone he kept his voice down. "I know you like to adlib, and…" He wanted to say her missions always seemed to result in full out battles, but took a deep breath and tried to be diplomatic. "for you that may work, but she isn't ready for all hell to break loose."
"Don't worry so much shorty." Mystique's smile just made him worry more. "Christy knows how to take care of herself, and this is just a meet and greet. We'll plant the bugs you gave us, say hello to the KKK cousins, and head home."
"I can't communicate with her." The real issue came out. He hated not being in contact with an operative, and Christy wasn't capable of that type of contact. They couldn't risk a special earring or something else to compensate for it either.
"She won't need it. I'll be the one planting the bugs. You just tell me if they work and I'll move on." Mystique sat down at the table. "We should be back in a couple hours." She gave him a serious look. "You just stay out of sight until then." He was going to hide in the truck and monitor things via Mystique and the computer to verify it was working.
"Don't worry, I don't want to become a piñata at the party."
……………………….
"Shortpack says good luck." Mystique told Christy as she pulled into a parking spot at The Friends of Humanity headquarters. Christy glanced over at Mystique in full Rob form and gave her a nervous smile. This was the lions den, and she wasn't all that comfortable walking into it. "Thanks Shortpack." Christy gave Mystique a half grimace, as Mystique had to relay that into the box. Christy wasn't sure if the tv box they set in the back seat of the truck was too thick for him to hear her. Shortpack had his computer and a small flashlight, but he'd be completely hidden from people walking past the truck. Christy glanced around the building. As long as no one stole the truck he'd be okay. It was a dirty street run down. At least this chapter of the FOH didn't have money for a better place. Maybe they couldn't afford a mutant detector at the door.
"Okay Terry, ready to go?" Mystique asked and the eyes flashed. The smile on that masculine face was gentle, soothing, and Christy gave her faux fiancée Rob a small smile and nod. She'd been nervous on the way here, but just like in the battles she'd been in, now that it was show time her panic eased and her mind cleared.
Rob got out and moved to help Terry out of the truck. The dress made that type of step down difficult to do with grace. "You have beautiful legs." Rob spoke softly and Terry looked up suddenly to notice a few people walking past them and taking notice. What was it with the Darkholme women and legs?
"Thank you." Terry smiled softly and leaned closer to give him a small kiss. Doing this with a male form felt foreign, but she leaned against him as if it were normal. She spoke in fake nervousness as Jacob and his wife came closer. "I've never been good with parties, and small talk with people I don't know." The words weren't a lie, but it might help excuse any fumbling she did and Jacob seemed to give her a more sympathetic look as he stopped in front of them.
"Hey Jacob, Sarah." Rob spoke over Terry's shoulder and let her go so she could turn and smile at the couple. Terry swallowed her pain at seeing Jake's smiling face again and did the little fake hug with his wife. Her Jake didn't marry.
"You'll be fine." Sarah smiled at her. "These men are really pussycats." It was more self assured than Terry really expected from this woman. Perhaps she wasn't too good with strangers and didn't consider Terry a stranger anymore.
"I thought all men were dogs Sarah." Terry smiled when that got a chuckle from everyone.
The four of them approached the doors and Terry looked as subtly as possible for anything that could be a detection device near the door. If the F.O.H. had it they couldn't let Rob near it. Still, without being able to confirm anything Rob walked through the doors as if he had no worries. Terry couldn't help releasing a relieved sigh when nothing happened.
"You really don't like parties do you?" Sarah asked softly.
"No." Terry gave Sarah a small smile as they crossed the threshold to the building. "I was always more of a wallflower than a party goer in school." She gave Rob's back an adoring glance. "If this weren't so important to him I would have tried to back out."
A nearby man obviously considering himself part of the conversation. "Important to him? It should be important to every human." The disdain was thick.
Terry turned to the newcomer with a sigh. It was time to really test her ability to act. "I don't understand why the government can't do something about it. They are dangerous and I don't like Rob having anything to do with them." Her eyes traveled to him being introduced to a familiar face. Liam was smiling and shaking Rob's hand. Terry let herself imagine his face if he knew what Rob really looked like. Terry could see how Mystique would feel some satisfaction walking among the bigots knowing they'd hate it if they knew. "I just… I…" Her voice got softer. "If he got hurt…" The fear and regret wasn't completely fake. Terry knew this was normal for the spy, but she was more worried for her partner than herself.
"I understand." Sarah put her hand on Terry's shoulder, her voice full of sympathy. "There's a war going on, and it's hard to accept it. Once the government actually listens to us and opens their eyes it will get better. Until then we have good men like Jacob and Rob keeping us safe."
The man that had joined them gave Terry a measuring glance and smiled. "I'm Dick. I'm doing my part too."
"Oh, I'm so sorry." Sarah looked a little flustered, but Terry wondered if the snub was on purpose. "Dick, this is Terry, Rob's fiancée. Terry, Dick, one of the political forces that try to hammer sense into the state government."
"I'm thinking more a jackhammer myself." Dick smiled and it reminded Terry of a shark. "I'm a lawyer by day." He held out his hand. Terry took it and shook it a bit uncertainly. Was that man checking out her cleavage? A glance at Sarah showed the housewife shaking her head at the lawyer's back. Apparently this was normal behavior for him.
"Terry was telling me about her wedding plans." Sarah said wedding just a hint slower than normal. "She and Rob are such a cute couple."
"Rob looks good all on his own." Terry picked up on the cue and felt a bit odd about working with the bride of the F.O.H. to get rid of a creepy man, "but thanks." Her eyes traveled to a trio of men talking in another corner and the way Rob spoke with such emotion and conviction. She didn't need to hear what he was saying to know he was laying out fake plans and dreams.
"It was nice seeing you again Dick." Sarah smiled at him. "But I was about to take Terry around and introduce her to the other ladies." They walked away and Terry glanced back to see the jerk watching her ass.
"Dick is a good name for that creep." She whispered to her companion. Sarah smirked just a bit.
"He's always hitting on the young women here. You should be honored, that attempt was the fastest I'd seen. He must like blondes."
"I'm not a natural blonde." Terry grinned at Sarah, playing with her cover in an innocent way. "Not that a man like that would ever get close enough to tell."
"I did wonder about that." Sarah blushed, "The blonde, not if you'd… you know… with Dick."
"Nope, I won't touch Dick." Terry kept her chuckle internal as she considered the double meaning.
"You are so bad." Sarah was so innocent but she got that one and was amused at the teasing. Why did she have to be such a bigot, she could have been nice.
…………………..
Rob glanced over and saw Terry laughing with Sarah. He gave her a fond smile that Liam and Jacob would see, but inside he worried about the baby spy getting too close to the targets. Now that he understood how pained seeing Jacob made Terry he worried for her. She claimed to be above that, but influences like that came out when someone needed to make a split second decision.
He turned his eyes back to Liam. "So I was thinking that being buried deep in the paper wasn't doing us any good. Muties probably don't read the whole thing if they can read at all. We want the freaks to stop spawning they need to fear going out with anyone. Something big that makes the news would drive the point home."
"Too bad we can't take them all out." Jacob muttered. "But targeting the breeding ones was a great idea that Liam and Mr. Stanley's idea." Rob thought to his handler. You getting that shortpack?
Yes. He sent back. The bugs that Rob had yet to place were all on him and he was keeping one on. It was a risk but this place didn't look very high tech. He'd move to try and give Terry one to hold onto in case she heard something interesting. They could have risked that earlier, but if this place was better protected against mutants Terry would have had to take the lead. They'd talked about how she'd have to pretend to not know Rob was a mutant and if she had bugs on her it wouldn't work if they searched her. "It was a good idea." Rob smiled at Liam. "At least they wouldn't be making more of the things." Talking like this always made Rob feel a little sick and pissed him off.
"Steve, Mr. Stanley," Liam clarified who Steve was but Rob had already done his research, "He wants to institute a mutant blood test as part of marriage." Liam's expression didn't give away the fact that Mr. Stanley's only child was a mutant.
"Is he coming to the party?" Rob had more than enough visual and auditory data to recreate Liam now, but having that man as well would be very helpful. If the bugs didn't pan something out in two weeks they'd make something up. Charlie never said the evidence had to be legitimate. Rob knew they were guilty, but couldn't really testify.
"Yes, he's just running a little late." Liam glanced at the door, but no one was there yet. "He went home to change."
Liam was pulled away for another conversation and Rob asked where the men's room was. Jacob thankfully didn't feel the need to accompany him. Women did that but men did. One more glance at Terry showed her talking with the wives.
Okay, you have directions for me? Rob sent to Shortpack once he was in the hall.
Up three floors and you'll find the main office. The answer came back. Rob noticed the stairwell and moved for it. He shifted form to a Hispanic man as he went up the stairs. If he got caught it would be best not to ruin the Rob cover. This building only had three stories and the top floor had a great view of the rooftops. Not a lot of big buildings around here.
The party worked in his favor and Rob got to the door without being seen. He took a moment to unlock the door and slipped in. With a sigh he slipped into his true form. Shorty, I'm gonna set up a few. Be ready to check em. Mystique moved into the larger office and hid one on the desk. Check 3ae3 She read the last numbers off of it.
Check. Came a moment later.
To be safe she put another in that one room, because the best evidence would most likely come from there. She then hit the other office, Liam's obviously, and the reception area. Shifting back into the Hispanic man she stepped out and headed for the men's room. Mystique had played a man enough times to know some important decisions were made there.
…………………….
"Terry." The woman that had been introduced as April drew Terry's eyes back to her. Hopefully they didn't see her looking for Rob, but she couldn't help worrying. She'd seen him leave and he wasn't back yet. It must have been ten minutes. People were going to start to wonder if he didn't get back soon. "Have you picked a caterer?"
God, all this talk about a fictitious wedding was really getting to her. When she'd married Michelle it was a small ceremony, very small. Nineteen year olds that were impatient to claim forever didn't make patient plans. It meant that she had little background to draw on now. "I was thinking of a small ceremony, just family." She had to go with what she'd actually done. "I'd rather spend the money on the honeymoon." Her sly smile got a few smirks from less wedding oriented women around them, but still Sarah and April looked like they couldn't understand a woman not wanting a large wedding.
"So you're not doing it in a church?" April asked.
"I want to do it in a park." It wasn't what she'd done that one time. This was what she'd actually like if she got to do it over. Terry pushed romantic ideas of how it would go, because it was painfully early to have thoughts like that and her telepathic lover might find them. All this talk of weddings, it was just natural to think like that, she told herself, at the same time she damned herself for even considering doing that again. "On the grass with trees. And a small picnic afterwards."
"That sounds nice." Some other woman said. Terry hadn't been introduced. "My dream is to be married on a boat overlooking the ocean." Terry was a little surprised that this one wasn't one of the wives club that was standing in this corner. "But my man hasn't proposed yet." Ah, girlfriend.
Were any of the women here actual F.O.H. fighters? In the comics they were usually men, but this was ridiculous. Terry almost shook her head at her feeling upset about the lack of women's rights in this organization. It was pretty ridiculous. It only made it easier for what she was planning. She always had trouble hurting women, not that wouldn't if she had to, but it did bother her more.
"Hi honey." The masculine voice held the teasing of the woman underneath and Terry leaned back into him when she was pulled back into a hug. Rob's voice got a little louder as he addressed the others. "Ladies, I hope you don't mind if I borrow my girl."
Sarah smiled at her. "Go right ahead. We'll finish planning your wedding later."
"You talking about that again." Rob let her go and smiled at her. Terry felt a bit tense as he continued to talk. "I swear this thing will cost more than a house when you're done." And he screwed it up. Fuck.
"Stop being a smart ass." Terry glared at him to warn him of his mistake since the others couldn't tell. "Just because I don't want a huge wedding like your sister…"
"You know I love that about you right." He kissed her gently. It wasn't a nightclub so the passion-filled kisses didn't fit in here, and Terry was grateful, because doing that with a man was harder. She didn't fake nearly as much when Mystique was in a feminine form. "I'd rather just elope altogether, but mother wouldn't go for that." Such a smooth cover up, it was inspiring.
When they walked away Terry leaned closer and teased. "I wanna be like you when I grow up." She spoke in a childish voice and got pinched for her effort.
"We're set, we just have to mingle." Rob spoke softly in her ear. "Stick around meet the father, and we can leave." Oh, that was a bit faster than they thought. "Maybe you should start being less cheerful, act like you're getting a little ill for a while. It'll give us an excuse."
"Eat something that disagrees with me?" Terry sighed as she glanced over at the food table. Perhaps a food allergy excuse would work. She was going to have to nibble at that whole table to make it an unknown allergy. She couldn't guess as to what was in what so she… damn, just do it and worry less, she scolded herself. "Couldn't I just get really horny and not be able to be away from you any longer?" She smirked as she whispered into Rob's ear seductively. His hands on her hips got tighter for just a moment. Oh, maybe she was playing with fire. She backed of on the teasing. "unknown food allergy coming up, along with everyone thinking your wife to be is a bulimic."
"You don't have to go that far." He kissed her softly. Did he take absolutely every opportunity to do that? Terry started to wonder about that.
"There you are." Jacob's voice was familiar and so very close. That explained the kiss. "Mr. Stanley is here and wants to meet you Rob." The look he gave her made Terry want to narrow her eyes and glare at him. "Men's business. Maybe you could ask Sarah to show you the…"
"If you say recipes I'll let my girl scratch your eyes out. It's what she'd want to do." Rob teased and stood up for her at the same time. Terry liked that even undercover he was protecting her from sexism.
Jacob smiled, "I wouldn't suggest that..." He gave her a smile, she was forgiven for not being a housewife yet apparently. "I was going to say she could show you what she did to the ladies room. She decorated it herself, and snuck me in to see it after she was done. My wife is quite the decorator." He sounded proud of her. God, things like this made it hard to keep the mission in mind. Jacob loved her, even if he was a sexist ass.
Terry felt the touch and looked into Rob's serious eyes while he planted a bug on her. She wished she knew what that was about, but couldn't ask with Jacob watching them. All that kept that man from seeing what Rob was doing was Rob's body in the way. She left to find Sarah like to good little stepford wife.
…………………….
Here he was, the grand poobah. Rob was walking with Jacob toward the man that Christy wanted behind bars the most. Rob got the impression if Liam got killed in the process Christy wouldn't mind, but Charlie had his rules. A quick glance at Terry showed her heading to the bathroom for a tour. He snickered softly before turning back to business at hand. Jacob seemed so eager to show Rob off, like a proud papa.